"IanW" wrote in message
...

that's something I was wondering about - the base of the cake is the usual
sugar, eggs, flour & marg.. the sugar is presumably going to act as a
preservative, but do commercial producers add anything further?


I saw a show on the Food Network and thought about this thread. The show is
called "Recipe for Success" and it follows people who quit their jobs to go
into the food business. This week there was an episode called "That takes
the cake" http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ra

The show was about a Harvard MBA who quite her job and sold her home to
start a business making a family recipe pound cake that she sells to
retailers and food services. She lined up a commercial baker to make the
product and got a contract for tens of thousands of slices of cake for an
airline. The day before the first order was to be baked, the bakery called
and said they were going out of business -- TODAY!

It's an interesting series. I don't know if they have on-demand for the
Food Network, but you might be interested. It might be worth contacting some
of these people to see if they can give you some advice.

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005, -L. wrote:

Petey the Wonder Dog wrote:

Starting out, you need the LEAST amount of investment possible.

When you start to make money and establish a product or products, then
go for it.

/delurk. Ok, so how does one go about doing this initially? Baking
for friends and/or selling goodies under the table to establish a
client base? Or should I contract out a small batch of product and
peddle it to retailers?

It cost me $135,000.00 to get started. I'm into it for two years and
am just starting to make money. That's pretty normal for a
bakery/restaurnat.

Pardon my ignorance (I'm new to the group) but what kind of business do
you have?

I almost got killed by the Adkins idiocy, and by some wildly
fluctuating flour and egg prices.

Has the Adkins wave subsided at all for you? Or did you have to alter
recipes to come up with low-carb alternatives?

Assume the smallest risk possible, test your product wholesale and
retail and chase your dream.

Read about how Famous Amos got his start. Then go to the Small
Business Development Center in your area with your business plan.

Thanks for posting your experience. I, too, am thinking of starting a
baking business (cakes, cookies) because so many people tell me I
should.

People have told me I'm good at baking and suggested I start a business.
They aren't considering the business side of starting a bakery. There is a
huge difference between being a good baker and running a business.

I make my living in Computer Science. I have seen a lot of friends create
start up companies. All of them have been really good programmers. The
only people successful have hired people who are really good managers.
They create the programs and their partners manage the business.

Some people are good at both. You just have to recognize where your
strengths are and get others to help you were you are weak. If you are
like me, you want to find someone to handle the business aspects while you
handle the actual baking.

--
Send e-mail to: darrell dot grainger at utoronto dot ca

On Thu, 17 Mar 2005, -L. wrote:

Petey the Wonder Dog wrote:

Starting out, you need the LEAST amount of investment possible.

When you start to make money and establish a product or products, then
go for it.

/delurk. Ok, so how does one go about doing this initially? Baking
for friends and/or selling goodies under the table to establish a
client base? Or should I contract out a small batch of product and
peddle it to retailers?

It cost me $135,000.00 to get started. I'm into it for two years and
am just starting to make money. That's pretty normal for a
bakery/restaurnat.

Pardon my ignorance (I'm new to the group) but what kind of business do
you have?

I almost got killed by the Adkins idiocy, and by some wildly
fluctuating flour and egg prices.

Has the Adkins wave subsided at all for you? Or did you have to alter
recipes to come up with low-carb alternatives?

Assume the smallest risk possible, test your product wholesale and
retail and chase your dream.

Read about how Famous Amos got his start. Then go to the Small
Business Development Center in your area with your business plan.

Thanks for posting your experience. I, too, am thinking of starting a
baking business (cakes, cookies) because so many people tell me I
should.

People have told me I'm good at baking and suggested I start a business.
They aren't considering the business side of starting a bakery. There is a
huge difference between being a good baker and running a business.

I make my living in Computer Science. I have seen a lot of friends create
start up companies. All of them have been really good programmers. The
only people successful have hired people who are really good managers.
They create the programs and their partners manage the business.

Some people are good at both. You just have to recognize where your
strengths are and get others to help you were you are weak. If you are
like me, you want to find someone to handle the business aspects while you
handle the actual baking.

--
Send e-mail to: darrell dot grainger at utoronto dot ca